Omnicom can add McDonald’s to its list of major account pickups this year, as the fast-food giant ends a 30-year relationship with Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett. The five-month McDonald’s review surfaced some controversy, with WPP dropping out of contention due to unheard of demands, like cutting performance incentives and mandating the agency operate at cost. Omnicom will launch a hybrid data/creative unit around the account, as it did for Procter & Gamble [AdExchanger coverage]. The new entity will be a “customized agency built with intelligence at the core, to fuel brilliant creative work, that's delivered at the speed of the marketplace at an efficient cost,” said DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark about the new business. More at Adweek.

Trumping Digital

Donald Trump isn’t bashful about his campaign’s lack of interest in digital data and tech ops [AdExchanger coverage]. But the campaign is hoping two legacy channels (TV and phone) can “get in there and sort of mine the different supporters,” says Brent Lowder, executive director of a hybrid super PAC supporting Trump (a hybrid PAC contributes data and funds directly to the campaign). The PAC’s TV spots prompt supporters to dial a 1-800 number, which collects contact data and donations. The PAC claims it’s been useful in building Trump lookalike audiences – which is good because so far it’s spent more than $6.6 million to collect $5.4 million. More from Kate Kaye at Ad Age.

Winter Is Always Coming

The sequoia forests of California have such huge canopies that it’s essentially impossible for smaller trees to take root. Many industry observers see the same thing in mobile, with the giant redwoods of Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter soaking up all the light. But this approach misses the many strong startups that have pressed global giants this year, writes Greylock VC and former Facebook/Twitter product leader Josh Elman. It was MSQRD that one-upped Snapchat with mobile lenses (before it was scooped by Facebook) and Bitmoji opened up new individualized graphics before being integrated by Snapchat. Just focus on what users want, and ignore the doom and gloom.

Monkey See, Monkey Tweak

Instagram Stories, a blatant Snapchat copycat, already has 100 million daily visitors, meaning a fifth of active Instagram users are on it. “It has the early signs of being a product people love,” Instagram product director Blake Barnes tells Josh Constine at TechCrunch. Next up: Instagram will begin targeting users with account suggestions. It’s unclear whether those suggestions will include brand accounts, but the possibility is enticing since many brands prefer Instagram to the confounding frontier of Snapchat marketing. More.